Ellen Degeneres, Simon Cowell Already Fighting on American Idol?

They hadn't even gotten to the filming of the first show of American Idol Season 9 before Ellen Degeneres had become annoyed with Simon Cowell. In other words, Ellen Degeneres' first day on the job at American Idol saw Simon Cowell ticking her off. How? By showing up an hour and a half late. Needless to say, Ellen was feeling a little bit disrespected. But was she really? Or was all the drama just for pulling in viewers?

Deadline.com tells us that a source said Ellen was fuming, called Simon Cowell a "prima donna." Ellen Degeneres, who the source described as very organized, had moved up her schedule for filming her talk show so she could accommodate her new duties as judge on American Idol. And then Simon Cowell arrives late...

So Ellen jumped on the phone to Fox alternative programming chief Mike Darnell, the guy who originally asked Ellen to join the American Idol judges, and asked him to "hurry up and pick" Simon Cowell's successor.

However, Radar Online reported that a source told them that Simon showed up exactly 14 minutes late, not 90 minutes. But the cameras for the first show with American Idol's new judge had already started rolling, even without Simon. Radar Online reported that the "tension between Simon and Ellen escalated instantly due to the situation." By the time the cameras stopped rolling, neither judge was speaking to the other.

An insider told Radar Online that American Idol had split into two camps this season. "It's a lot more tense than previous seasons. It seems as if Ellen has decided to try to take control since Simon is on his way out and that's created problems."

But has it really? American Idol is like a soap opera holding a singing competition. It has its main characters and what is going on with them, and it has its myriad subplots and interconnections between the main characters, the minor characters, and characters that appear as cameos. Simon Cowell has played the evil manipulator (every soap opera has one) on the show for eight seasons. Ellen Degeneres is the new wave of things to come and she's Simon's counterbalance, just like Paula Abdul. Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and Ryan Seacrest are your basic good guys just moving the story along. And even when Simon leaves and they find an evil someone to replace him, the story of the American Idol soap opera will continue.

Besides, building a storyline of tension between Simon Cowell and Ellen Degeneres will keep viewers intrigued and anticipatory.

Could Simon be pushing Ellen's buttons? Most certainly. But it is more likely that Simon Cowell and Ellen Degeneres are involved with the publicity department of American Idol in pushing the buttons of the average American Idol viewer.

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Sources:

Deadline.com
RadarOnline.com